Take A Listen: Whitney Houston

There is so much new music this week that I had to choose which one to post…that’s a first.

My choice? Whitney Houston.

Ah…Ms. Whitney. I am championing hard for Nippy…and I see pictures of her and I see her looking robust and healthy and my heart fills with hope. You see, I used to idolize this woman. I mean, who didn’t want to sing like Whitney? She had, what my friend’s father used to say, a “bird” in her voice. Sweet and pure as snow, yet powerful and soul-stirring…that was Ms. Whitney’s voice.

Now, that voice is a shade of what it used to be. At least on the tracks on this CD, her voice does not equal what it used to. I tried to listen to the CD and not compare it to the old Whitney…you know, the “You Give Good Love” Whitney…but it was fruitless. I keep looking for that bird, and where it was always there, it only shows up now and again here.

That is not to say that we should not celebrate her renewal. We should, and I will. There are some tunes here that I like, but there are some that are simply unforgivable. How…why do you do Donny Hathaway’s “A Song For You” like that? It is a travesty, and almost ruined the whole CD for me. And I’m not even going to talk about that track with Akon (why do people still record with him?). But I stuck with it, because Whitney deserves a chance to sing her way back into my life. The lead single, “I Look To You” is a look inside the heart of a woman that was once untouchable.

Whitney Houston fell down to earth, and is climbing her way back out of the abyss that holds her demons. For that reason, I will continue to support her. It’s almost blasphemous to say you don’t like this CD…so I won’t even go there. But I will say that it only makes me reminisce on what was once was, and wish it were still.

Recommendation: I Look To You is worth at least one listen…you will find something here to like, but not love.

Peace and blessings…